Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue may jeopardize the objectivity of two USDA agencies by taking control of the Economic Research Service and moving it and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) out of Washington, said the National Farmers Union on Tuesday. The second-largest U.S. farm group announced its opposition to the reorganization in a letter to Perdue, saying the USDA has failed to justify the reorganization announced a month ago.
The 1994 USDA reorganization law made ERS part of USDA’s research wing. Perdue said he was “re-aligning” ERS by making it part of his executive office. The ERS’s duties include analysis of the impact of USDA programs. NIFA awards $1.3 billion a year in research grants.
In the NFU letter, president Roger Johnson said by putting the agency directly under the top political appointee at the department “may diminish the scientific integrity of the agency’s research. Relocating NIFA at or near entities applying for grants may also create conflicts of interest in the grant-awarding process.” The relocations may lead to the loss of senior researchers who choose not to relocate, said the letter.
“We urge you to reconsider the proposal and initiate a more thorough public input and vetting process,” wrote Johnson.
Dozens of academic, agricultural, consumer and commodity groups have signed letters opposing the reorganizational steps.
To read the NFU letter, click here.